Burning Blog: Blowback

It was like the movies. Even though the area around the “Crude Awakening” oil derrick was roped off at least 500 feet around the structure, the crowd was blown back from the force of the explosion. It was strange taking so much pleasure from seeing something blown up but, well, blowing up stuff is pleasurable.

BOOOOOM

The oil rig took its sweet time before beginning its production with an extremely creepy air raid siren followed by a fireworks show choreographed to music snippets — it was launched with “The Star-Spangled Banner”, before seguing into techno and then rock. But most of the crowd was far from restless, with the traveling circus of art cars and glow stick’ed bikes racing across the playa to fill the space around the rig. Pictures can’t really capture the space all of these people and weird vehicles filled, and the sight of them racing from the still-burning man to the oil rig like herds of animals on the African plains was pretty funny.

And it burned, lit up by a-lot of propane.

But after all that, I didn’t have any party left in me. Took a green yellow bike and biked home across the empty streets. Not empty enough, apparently, though, because a heavily-glittered swerved into me and we had the world’s slowest bike accident. (In a nice but misguided jesture, the woman tried to kiss my leg. I still have glitter on me.) My leg is a little torn up, but nothing crazy. Today will be a packing/tying up lose ends kind of day. It’s 9 a.m. and scorching. Another playa morning.